Texas Constitution
(Selected Sections)

Article IX.
Municipal Corporations.

Sec. 4.
Cities and Towns with Population of 5,000 or Less; Chartered by General Law; Taxes; Fines, Forfeitures and Penalties.

Cities and towns having a population of five thousand or less may be chartered alone by general law. They may levy, assess and collect such taxes as may be authorized by law, but no tax for any purpose shall ever be lawful for any one year which shall exceed one and one-half percent of the taxable property of such city; and all taxes shall be collectible only in current money, and all licenses and occupation taxes levied, and all fines, forfeitures and penalties accruing to said cities and towns shall be collectible only in current money.

Sec. 5.
Cities of 5,000 or More Population; Adoption or Amendment of Charters; Taxes; Debt Restrictions.

Cities having more than five thousand (5000) inhabitants may, by a majority vote of the qualified voters of said city, at an election held for that purpose, adopt or amend their charters. If the number of inhabitants of cities that have adopted or amended their charters under this section is reduced to five thousand (5000) or fewer, the cities still may amend their charters by a majority vote of the qualified voters of said city at an election held for that purpose. The adoption or amendment of charters is subject to such limitations as may be prescribed by the Legislature, and no charter or any ordinance passed under said charter shall contain any provision inconsistent with the Constitution of the State, or of the general laws enacted by the Legislature of this State. Said cities may levy, assess and collect such taxes as may be authorized by law or by their charters; but no tax for any purpose shall ever be lawful for any one year, which shall exceed two and one-half percent of the taxable property of such city, and no debt shall ever be created by any city, unless at the same time provision be made to assess or collect annually a sufficient sum to pay the interest thereon and creating a sinking fund of at least two percent thereon. Furthermore, no city charter shall be altered, amended or repealed more often than every two years.

Sec. 7.
Counties and Cities on Gulf of Mexico; Tax for Sea Walls, Breakwaters and Sanitation; Bonds; Condemnation of Right of Way.

All counties and cities bordering on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico are hereby authorized upon a vote of the majority of the qualified voters voting thereon at an election called for such purpose to levy and collect such tax for construction of sea walls, breakwaters, or sanitary purposes, as may now or may hereafter be authorized by law, and may create a debt for such works and issue bonds in evidence thereof. But no debt for any purpose shall ever be incurred in any manner by any city or county unless provision is made, at the time of creating the same, for levying and collecting a sufficient tax to pay the interest thereon and provide at least two per cent (2%) as a sinking fund; and the condemnation of the right of way for the erection of such works shall be fully provided for.

Sec. 9.
Property Exempt from Forced Sale and from Taxation.

The property of counties, cities and towns, owned and held only for public purposes, such as public buildings and the sites therefore, fire engines and the furniture thereof, and all property used, or intended for extinguishing fires, public grounds and all other property devoted exclusively to the use and benefit of the public shall be exempt from forced sale and from taxation, provided, nothing herein shall prevent the enforcement of the vendors liens, the mechanics or builders lien, or other liens now existing.